


a road to rediscover

by evelinaonline



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Ben Hargreeves is Alive, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, No Incest, Protective Ben Hargreeves, The Even Numbers, no beta we die like ben, post-Season 1, they're trying their best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:08:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evelinaonline/pseuds/evelinaonline
Summary: Klaus is passed out in Diego's apartment, and Ben has forgotten what it's like to be around other people.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Comments: 24
Kudos: 335





	a road to rediscover

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bookworm5546](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm5546/gifts).



> For [Jena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm5546/pseuds/bookworm5546), who has somehow managed to put a smile on my face every single day for more than I can count. I can't wait till we go up the Parthenon together. I love you so much. Happy birthday <3

"How… How often does this happen?"

Ben turned his attention from Klaus to Diego, who was leaning against the pillar next to the stairs in his apartment. Well. Boiler room.

Diego wasn't looking back at him. He was fidgeting with his knife, eyes pinned on its edges, as if he actually cared about not accidentally cutting himself. Ben knew he wouldn't. He never did.

"Often." Ben didn't know how else to put it. He turned back to Klaus. Sobriety hadn't been going as smoothly as they'd hoped. Klaus had finally fallen asleep after fighting off another dozen of ghosts, ghosts Ben couldn't see anymore, not since they prevented his death by going back in time. "It happens often."

For a moment, there was silence. Ben could only imagine what was going on in Klaus' head. He was probably still battling against the ghosts, or so he would end up doing, eventually. He seemed peaceful enough so far.

Diego sighed deeply. "Fuck."

Ben huffed through a smile. "Fuck." That pretty much described it.

They still wouldn't look at each other. Ben's eyes were pinned on Klaus, Diego's on the blade, or so Ben assumed. He could tell when people were looking at him these days. He wasn't used to it yet, and it always caught him by surprise.

"This isn't fair."

"No, it isn't," Ben said. "But he'll get through it. He has to."

"Yeah."

"I mean, we got Five back," he continued. "And _I'm_ back too, so… It's just a matter of time. And a matter of being there for each other, which we're working on, so it'll be—"

" _Fuck,"_ Diego hissed.

It was then that Ben finally turned around again, only to see a stream of blood rolling down Diego's hand. Ben got up from the chair they'd placed next to the bed and rushed to his side. He pointed to the knife. "Give me that."

Diego didn't resist. He handed Ben the blade and covered his wound with his now-free hand.

"I'll go get you some bandages," Ben said and turned around, placing the knife on Diego's desk.

"They're at the—"

"—bottom-left drawer," Ben finished for him, and kneeled to get them, as well as some iodine. It wasn't the first time he'd been to Diego's place. He and Klaus had winded up there many nights when they were living in the streets, and more than often, Klaus had been hurt in one way or another.

He poured some iodine on a cotton pad, then placed the bottle on the floor.

"Show me your hand." This time, Diego was more hesitant to listen than before. Ben was too. He still hadn't gotten used to interacting with his siblings, and he sure as hell wasn't used to patching them up.

He tried not to think about the fact that Diego's hand was on his. His skin was rough and had a lot of scratches, probably from fidgeting with knives, as had happened just now, but it was warm, and Ben didn't really want to let go.

"This is gonna sting—"

"I know how iodine works, Ben."

Ben nodded and bit his lip, patting the cotton on Diego's skin. He hissed again, but Ben didn't stop until he'd fully cleaned the cut. It wasn't that deep, but it was long enough to need to be bandaged, rather than just patched. It wasn't as if he could stick a patch on his palm anyway.

He left the cotton on the desk and reached for the bandage roll. He wrapped it around his hand a few times. "Is this tight enough?"

Diego nodded. Ben continued.

The bandage slipped from his hands, and the roll hit the floor. "Shit, sorry, let me just—"

"I got it," Diego said and kneeled down to get it, finishing the job on his own.

Ben turned his back on him. Why couldn't he just do one simple job? All he needed was to wrap a stupid bandage around his hand. Anyone could do it. Anyone _should_ be able to do it. Apparently not him. He'd been gone for so long that—

"Hey Ben?"

Part of him wanted to ignore Diego and just go back to looking at Klaus. Why did he stop in the first place? What if something happened to him in his sleep and he wasn't there? He tried to shake off the thought and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Come here."

Before he knew it, he was being pulled into a hug.

His initial thought was to pull away, but the warmth of Diego's body didn't let him. Ben melted right into it, eventually wrapping his arms around him too, and resting his chin on his shoulder. Not even his stomach was bothered by the direct contact.

They stayed like this for a while. Ben didn't really know if it'd been seconds, minutes, maybe an hour. It felt like forever, yet it passed in a blink of an eye.

"I'm glad you're back," Diego said and patted his back, pulling away.

Ben smiled at him, trying to contain the tears that had made their way into his eyes. "Me too."

"No hugs for me?"

Ben and Diego looked at each other, then—

"Klaus!"

Number Four was sitting up on the bed, a smirk decorating his face. "Pretty please?"

Ben couldn't help but chuckle as he made his way to the bed, followed by Diego. They both sat down, Diego at his left, and Ben at his right, and Klaus pulled them both in for another hug.

"Next time you get ambushed by ghosts, make sure it's not while we're boxing," Diego said.

"I'll try to clear my schedule," Klaus said in a joking manner.

Ben shook his head. "Are you feeling better?"

"Shush," Klaus said. "No talking. It's hug-time."

Ben could live with that.

**Author's Note:**

> At this point, I have no idea when season two is coming, only that if it doesn't have Even Numbers in it, I might riot.
> 
> Come bug me on [tumblr (evelinaonline)](https://evelinaonline.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Thank you for reading! <3


End file.
